JEFFREY HOROWITZ (Artistic Director, Theatre for a New Audience) began his career in theatre as an actor and appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theatre. Since 1979, when he founded Theatre for a New Audience, he has established himself as one of the most innovative and influential producers in the nation. At TFANA Horowitz has produced Shakespeare, Greek, Jacobean and Italian classical drama, as well as contemporary classics by Granville-Barker, Brenton, Bond, Richard Nelson and Colin Teevan. TFANA nurtured the talents of Julie Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal early in their careers and has built ongoing relationships with some of the world’s leading theatre artists, among them Cicely Berry, OBE, Sir Peter Hall, Doug Hughes, Mark Rylance, Bartlett Sher and Robert Woodruff. Horowitz commissioned and developed new plays from authors such as Eduardo Machado, Suzan Lori-Parks and Elizabeth Swados and new adaptations by Michael Feingold. For decades, Horowitz and his colleagues have played a leading role in arts-education programs of the New York City Public Schools. TFANA will soon be taking its second production to Stratford-upon-Avon, this time a MERCHANT OF VENICE with F. Murray Abraham as Shylock, which will be part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s phenomenal Complete Works Festival in 2007. Horowitz has served on the Panel of the New York State Council on the Arts and on the Board of directors of Theatre Communications Group. He is currently on the Advisory Board of The Shakespeare Society and the Artistic Directorate of London's Globe Theatre.